Who are you going to call in a coronavirus crisis?

Former special forces commander Christopher Marr never expected that when he set up a safety consultancy four years ago he would field desperate calls for toilet paper and hand sanitiser.

For the past few years his team of former emergency services and defence personnel have largely been working with the nation's biggest universities, acting as a one-stop-shop for medical and personal safety concerns for swaths of foreign students unfamiliar with where to seek help. It manages issues from medical problems through to more serious calls related to sexual assaults or suicide attempts.

Inside Sonder's control room. It employs former emergency service and defence personnel across the country.

But as the coronavirus pandemic forces many businesses to abruptly change how they operate a new market is emerging: keeping employees scattered far and wide safe.

"For businesses there are massive problems right now because their duty of care extends outside of their office environment," Mr Marr said.

"We are faced with a situation where people are working from home almost exclusively and there's no effective framework and mechanism in order to effect duty of care.

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"We have had a 91 per cent increase in mental health issues since coronavirus kicked off. People don't know how to deal with their symptoms and what to do. We are a trusted conduit for highly efficacious information and providing critical support for people. It might be a care package like toilet paper or essential services."

Mr Marr set up Sonder with friends Peter Burnheim, a fellow former army officer, and Craig Crowley, a former corporate lawyer and army reservist. It employs former emergency service and defence personnel across the country.

"We can get physical help by somebody’s side in metropolitan centres in less than 20 minutes. We do it every day," Mr Marr said.

Sonder co-founder Christopher Marr: "We can get physical help by somebody’s side in metropolitan centres in less than 20 minutes."

Among its clients are Commonwealth Bank, Allianz and the University of Sydney.

One financial services client uses Sonder for a mobile lending workforce, which, before the coronavirus outbreak, were often required to go into people's homes.

Through its app and control centre, Sonder members can request GPS tracking of an outdoor walk or run. Sonder can detect the likely pace of the journey and its algorithm will generate an alert if it appears you've started sprinting or if there is no movement when there probably should be.

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With the touch of a button any of its 130,000 users can signal an emergency and within moments a Sonder staff member is on the phone ready and able to provide or send assistance. Its Sydney command centre is manned by former 000 and emergency centre operators.

Since the coronavirus crisis hit, more than 40 per cent of calls have been related to mental health.

"We can get help by someone's side. But we hadn't anticipated the mental health demand. There is a lot of anxiety among students and staff members," Mr Marr said.

Sonder does not provide counselling but does organise the right support services to connect to the concerned person.

Sonder has been fielding calls from current members who have been forced into self-isolation as the coronavirus pandemic takes hold. It has been delivering care packages and providing mental health assistance.

AFR Weekend put Sonder to the test after speaking to Mr Marr. With supermarket shelves empty could Sonder deliver toilet paper to a household in need? Within a few hours a Sonder employee was on the doorstep with two rolls and a courtesy canister of hand sanitiser.

More than 10,000 people poured into the nation's capital on the ninth day of protests over police brutality, but what awaited them was a city that no longer felt as if it was being occupied by its own country's military.